Geoff Hippensteil

UNTITLED (DEATH VALLEY PALTTE)

2016
oil and wax on cardboard mounted on panel
31 1/4 x 24 inches

The textured, abstract works of Houston artist Geoff Hippenstiel are often a centralized composition that emerges from the artist’s impasto brushwork and vibrant colors. Hippenstiel uses a palette knife to work wax and paint over the surface, where he pushes and mounds the media onto itself. He builds an internal radiance in this work by scraping away layers of paint in sections to reveal vivid purples and pinks. Hippenstiel delves into the chosen palette, adding tonal range to the oranges, pinks, teals, and magentas inspired by colors found in photographs of Death Valley National Park. The bulk of the paint is accentuated by the puckered texture of the paint’s surface, and his use of a spray gun adds an illusionary depth to the painting.

and devin borden gallery, houston